Welcome back pals and gals to the Fallen! I'm gonna be slowing the story down over the next few chapters so I can tell it at the pace this part of the story will need and I admit I may have rushed a bit so if you see any problems please point them out and I'll look it over. Anyway I hope you enjoy.

-OtherwiseR00K

Caravans were an important part of most Kingdoms of Remnant to varying degrees. Vacuo's was the most important because the main kingdom resided in the middle of a barebones desert with no food for miles, without settlements sending shipments they would very quickly starve unless something was done about this. Due to this, the caravans of Vacuo are guarded twenty-four seven and anyone caught trying to steal was punished severely.

Vale had some caravans come through but those are people looking to buy more than sell as Vale has an entire district dedicated to farming crops. The things sold by the caravans are mostly skins, wood, and just anything valuable to the kingdom's continued existence.

Atlas was an exception to the typical goings-on. Solitas was an extremely cold continent and as such most people lived in Atlas or Mantel. They did have to get shipments brought in from Vale and Mistral and the occasional one from Vacuo but otherwise didn't have the same need for caravans as the others. Though a few people have made their livings in the Solitas Tundra, it's a hard life with a very high mortality rate.

Mistral was a bit of a mix between Vacuo and Vale. They didn't need the caravans as they did have natural vegetation surrounding the kingdom due to the mountainous terrain as well as the river that flowed through them and beneath the kingdom. Though Mistral's economy was the best out of the other kingdoms and the rich enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle. It also helped that Mistral was the crime capital of Remnant and most of these Crime Families had made deals with certain settlements for more 'exotic' cargo.

Shirou was currently riding in the back of one of these convoys, sitting on a crate he knew was filled with ores mined from an illegal mining site farther south. He was currently reading through the documents he'd snagged from his last hunt which was mostly just the same information he already knew just worded differently.

Shirou hadn't expected anything new but he'd hoped for something. After the eighth cultist compound he'd dealt with he'd noticed less and less things were just strewn about the place. It meant the cult wasn't stupid which was unfortunate for him. Still, he knew his target.

A place in the Industrial Quarter of Mistral called the Chop Shop. The problem was he had no idea where that was so he'd be going blind into the kingdom. He'd find it, he had no doubts about that, he just wasn't sure how long it'd take. Maybe he'd get lucky and it was a public establishment and he could ask around for it but he'd see.

Shirou felt the truck stop so he stopped reading and listened, reinforcing his ears so he could hear what was happening.

"Alright, hand over the cargo manifest." Shirou assumed this was the border guard.

"Yep, here ya' go." The driver spoke.

A moment of quiet with some paper being moved and the quiet sound of a scroll chime.

"Alright, it matches with the manifest sent over. Ya' mind if I take a look?"

Shirou already had a Noble Phantasm ready to trace when the driver spoke again.

"Personally? No. My employer on the other hand? She'd rather you take a look at this."

"Sir, it's a normal inspection it-oh! Uh, sorry sir I uh-let 'em through!"

The guard's quick turnaround made Shirou wonder just who the driver's employer was. He dismissed the weapon from his mind as the truck started moving again. He looked out the back of the truck and caught a glimpse of what he assumed to be the man the driver had been talking to just as the gate began closing.

Shirou had finally made it into Mistral.

Shirou moved to the back of the truck and peeked out. All around were warehouses and other trucks moving around with only a few people out with the lamps lighting the courtyard up in a dim gold. He had to get out of this area and to a more public spot.

The truck continued rumbling forward as Shirou hopped out and reinforced his legs so that way if anyone even looked where he was going all they'd see was a black blur. He made it to a close warehouse and jumped up, soaring all the way to the top of a third-story building with no problems. Shirou glanced back at the courtyard and then moved forward toward a far brighter gold than the lamps lighting up the shipment yard.

Shirou leaped from the warehouse and onto another building before coming to the edge of it and looking down. The street was lined with stalls filled with nick-nacks or articles of clothing being sold by desperate vendors shouting out to the people passing by and getting a hook into the metaphorical fish in the crowd.

Shirou looked to his right and saw a drop-off between the building he was on and the next. He walked over to the edge and looked down to see an empty alleyway with no lights in the alley and only the glow from the street giving any shape to the alley.

Shirou flipped his hood up and walked off the edge of the building. He fell for a moment before landing on the ground, he looked to the mouth of the alley and watched as people passed by the alley. A moment later Shirou exited the alley and merged with the crowd.

Now he had two objectives in Mistral, his priority being the Chop Shop. The next thing he had to do was deal with his stalkers. In his time in Anima, as he continued destroying cultist settlements, he'd noticed people were watching him. They never got away but from his first encounter with them, he learned of the Spiders.

The Spiders were a criminal syndicate that mostly focused on information and selling cargo. Their information network could be useful but he wasn't sure they had anything on the cult, the information he'd gotten from the weapons of the members he'd killed never revealed information on the cult. His stalkers had no knowledge of it.

It seemed someone was culling the information from existence. He'd noticed it when he spoke to that huntsmen team who said the buildings had been completely razed. Shirou was fully aware of what he left behind, and besides a few occasions, he hadn't completely destroyed the settlements.

Someone was covering his tracks for him.

Shirou would have to find out who later, for now, he had to deal with his goals in Mistral. Back to the Spiders, they had spies everywhere and their main bases were in Mistral. Their leader, Lil' Miss Malachite, was a cautious woman who never stayed in the same place. He'd need someone to lead him to her.

Thankfully, it seemed her spies were already aware of his presence. Shirou looked in the corner of his eye to see a woman heading away from him with a purple vest, she'd been watching him since he left the alleyway. Shirou would let them spy on him, but he needed to deal with the Chop Shop first.

Lil' Miss' spies would lead him right to her.

-Mistral's Faunus Quarter-

Roman grunted as he was shoved forward by the man behind him, forcing him and Neo forward through the crowd of faunus. Roman and Neo had recently failed a job Lil' Miss had given them, aware of the consequences of failure they had attempted to flee but were caught and now at the mercy of Lil' Miss' enforcers.

At seventeen Roman had seen more than he probably should have, been exposed to things he shouldn't have. Neo was the same, only twelve years old and up to Roman's waist in height. Both however were fully aware failure usually meant death. It was very likely they were walking to their execution at the hands of Lil' Miss.

At least Roman's execution. He doubted Lil' Miss would kill Neo, but there were worse fates for her. Unconsciously Roman had pulled Neo closer to him at the thoughts in his mind. He wouldn't let them, he'd die first before anyone even laid a hand on his sister.

The two were being guided through the Faunus Quarter, a district reserved for the Faunus specifically. It was a poor area with most of the houses being worn or looking close to collapse, some were camped out on the sides of the street and some were trying to help others.

The Faunus Quarter was directly below the quarter where the Nobles of Mistral lived. The close proximity made it easy for the nobles to keep an eye on the faunus and even take some of them if they so pleased. No one could stop them.

The reason they were in the Faunus Quarter was because of Lil' Miss' way of staying safe. She never did deals in the same place, always moving between places she owned and was under the control of the Spiders. Roman could see the location from a mile away because its clean look stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the other buildings around it.

A large sign with purple highlights sat above the entrance 'The Aeiger'. An interesting name and far better than the last one Lil' Miss used called the 'Watering Hole'. It was too on the nose. The enforcer forced the pair inside and the first thing Roman noticed was how empty the place was but before he could take it in he was shoved by the enforcer straight for a table in the back.

Behind the table sat a large woman wearing a white blouse with a purple collar and purple cuffs. Her legs were covered by the table but he was sure she was wearing her usual purple long skirt.

"Hello, Roman," Lil' Miss Malachite greeted, "Where were you heading at this hour?"

"Home," Roman said.

"Oh? Well, that's not what my spiders have told me."

"I was planning on rearranging the furniture, ya' know? Make it look a little different."

"Oh, well I'm sure it wouldn't have looked all that different. I mean you can only do so much with a crate, a dusty sofa, and a dirt floor." She was taunting Roman, she knew exactly what he'd planned to do. Roman wasn't stupid.

Lil' Miss motioned to a guard near her who pulled out a familiar cane. Roman tensed up at seeing Melodic Cudgel now within Lil' Miss' grasp.

"This was your father's, right?"

"Yeah."

"And you were going to leave it? For shame," she says playfully, and then places Melodic Cudgel in front of her, "leaving something so obviously important to you."

Roman didn't say anything, he was currently keeping the anger he felt at her having that cane. It wasn't hers, it was his fathers who gave it to Roman before dying. His fist clenched at the sight but a smaller hand snuck its way into his own. He looked down at Neo, whose pink and brown eyes met his own green ones. He calmed down and looked back up at Lil' Miss.

"I should have you killed, failure is not tolerated. But I'm willing to give you one more chance because I like ya'." Lil' Miss said, dropping the playful act.

Roman mentally scoffed, she didn't like him at all. She was only tolerant because of Neo's semblance. Neo's semblance was special, it could conjure up illusions that were so convincing no one could tell unless they saw it being conjured up. Plus unlike some illusion semblances he's heard of everyone can see them instead of a single person or a group.

Roman had found Neo attempting to rob a stand but had been caught, Roman had stepped in and she had followed him like a duckling following their mother. They'd been together since and both would likely take a bullet for the other. Without him around Lil' Miss lost out on that semblance because without Roman, Neo would run, and good luck catching her.

"What do you want us to do?" Roman asked, wanting to get to the job and get away from Lil' Miss for as long as possible.

"It's simple really," Lil' Miss began, "Several months back there have been reports on a man in black saving settlements around Anima. People have taken to calling him the Black Swordsman, heh, it's a stupid name but befitting his appearance. Anyway, this usually wouldn't really matter if wasn't for the fact that people have come asking for information on this man and they have offered hefty amounts of lien for it."

Roman nodded, he'd heard about this. Some hero wannabe, going around Anima saving settlements and making a name for themselves. He was aware of the mystery surrounding them as well, no one knew who they were or where they came from. Didn't Lil' Miss send a few others after the Black Swordsman?

"A spider spotted him entering Mistral," Roman snapped out of his thoughts at the words, "She gave a similar description to the one we have but she came back to inform me before anything. I have someone watching them now and giving constant updates but I want you two on this. If you succeed in getting some substantial information; semblance, weapons, etc. You will be forgiven for your dissent."

Roman knew a bargain when he heard one, but he was also aware of one glaring problem. Lil' Miss had sent people out to learn about this guy and they hadn't come back.

"What about the people you already sent?" Roman asked.

"I know what you're thinkin' Roman and don't worry. I'd given them an extra task along with finding some information on our swordsman, they must've encountered them. You had no such problem," Lil' Miss said, then she snapped her fingers again and one of the guards behind her took out an old revolver and threw it to Roman.

Roman fumbled slightly with the catch, having not expected it. The revolver was rather old, it looked similar to the one Roman had but he left it back-wait no this was his! He knew it was because he'd made a modification for it to have a break-action instead of popping out the cylinder to reload. It was just faster for him.

He looked up at Lil' Miss who simply smirked, "You will need your weapon, obviously, and you'll need it as it has the coordinates of the one currently following your target," she tossed a scroll to Rman who caught it much easier having expected it this time. He holstered his revolver and opened the scroll, it only had one function online and it showed him a marker on the map of Mistral.

"What about my cane?" Roman asked, not wanting to leave without it.

"No, I think it'll be more useful as a further incentive." Lil' Miss caressed the cane as she spoke, once again making Roman angry, "Now you should get going. You do have a target to get information on after all."

Roman went to bite back but Neo tugged on his hand, making Roman move back toward the door. With one last glance toward Melodic Cudgel and allowed Neo to lead him out of the Aeiger.

Once outside, Neo dragged him to an alleyway then turned around and signed at him, "Do you have a plan?"

"Yes, I have a plan, Neo," Roman answered, having learned sign language so he could communicate with Neo.

Neo gave a questioning look and gestured for him to go on. Her eyes showed a bit of weariness.

"We get back in Lil' Miss' good graces, we do what she wants for a few weeks, at most months. Once we secure ourselves we'll then find a way out of Mistral. For now, we do as we're told and keep ourselves fed, 'kay?"

Another sign, this one slightly shaky but Roman stops her, grabbing her shoulders and getting on his knee looking directly into Neo's eyes.

"Don't even finish that. I won't let anyone take you from me, and they won't get the chance, understood?" Roman said, his voice firm with no arguments to be found. Neo looked at him with a worried expression but nodded, resolve slowly replacing the doubt.

"Good, now let's find this crappy swordsman."

-Industrial Quarter-

Roman and Neo finally made it to the Spider operative's location. They'd moved multiple times as he and Neo followed the signal but Roman had expected that. The guy they were trying to meet was tracking someone after all. It made sense he'd be moving around.

The Spider turned around as the two approached, "Took ya' time huh?" she snarked.

"Yeah, yeah, it's not like you were constantly moving around Mistral or anything," Roman says back while walking to the edge and looking into the crowd, "So where are they?"

The Spider points down to a small vendor, a large noodles sign on the banner above it. In front of the stand stood their target, black coat and all. Even a large silver case sitting on his back that he'd not heard about in the description but assumed it housed his weapons or was his weapon. You never really knew with Mecha Shift until it transformed.

"I'll leave this to you two," the Spider said, already heading off, "Don't fail!" she yelled back before jumping off the building.

Roman had no intention to fail. Wasn't an option for him.

The two watched as their target began moving away from the noodle stand, walking through the crowd to an unknown destination. All the while Roman dedicated what he noticed to memory and made a few theories on the man but discarded them because that was all they were. Theories, not facts.

The target came to a stop at another vendor and seemed to be asking questions. Roman assumed they were asking directions but wasn't completely sure so he just continued watching, until Neo tugged at his shirt.

"What?" Roman asked, looking back at her but keeping the target in his peripheral.

Neo gestures, "He doesn't look very knightly."

"Knightly? Where'd you get the idea he'd look like a knight?"

"I heard it while we were scouting caravans a few days ago. Some people said the Black Swordsman was a knight in black armor."

Roman sighed, "Don't listen to everything you hear Neo. Some people tend to add elements to a tale to make it more interesting. Fact and fiction is sometimes hard to separate but it's best to take the unconfirmed info with a grain of salt if not an entire shaker."

Roman looked back at the target, he was sure Neo would take that to heart. She listened to him when he told her about certain elements of the job, trying to be as useful as possible so as to lighten the load on his shoulders. He was thankful for that but it was the job of the older brother to look after the younger sister. Not the other way around.

"The facts of this target is we know almost nothing, no real name, no huntsmen records, not even a CCT record. Nothing. Only a description and his weapon is a blade. He could be a Faunus for all we know."

The target began moving again, heading toward a less populated road. The crowd got thinner and thinner until the target was the only one walking on the road, a little bit more on the shadier side too. He knew this place was more connected to the Mistral underworld. Why was the target coming here?

They continued following him, the target heading deeper into the area. After a while they finally came to a dead end and at the end of the road sat the Chop Shop. If Roman remembered right it was a smuggling operation with a typical vehicle shop as a front. It was considered small time so the Families left it be.

Now their target was heading directly for it at a time when its front business was closed. What did he want here? Roman wasn't sure but he'd find out soon. The target was getting closer to the building and someone else took notice.

A single guard standing outside by the door of the Chop Shop took up a normal shotgun and the telltale sign of aura encompassed the man's body as they marched toward the target. Roman wasn't entirely sure how this would go, most information gained by witnesses had only had the Black Swordsman up against Grimm. He wondered how they'd stack up against-

Before Roman could even finish that thought the target reached into his coat pulled a pistol out and fired twice. The guy dropped dead with the first shot having broken the aura and the second taking half the man's skull with it. In that very same moment, the target walked over the corpse and opened the door to the Chop Shop disappearing inside.

Roman stared, he was sure he could feel Neo's stare as well even though it wasn't directed at him. Hadn't all the reports made it seem like the target was the hero type? Had that gun also taken out someone with aura with only two shots?

Neo nodded beside him.

Oh, he must have said that out loud at least that clears that question up. Roman then notched up the lethality level on this job and really did not want to follow the target into that building. Unfortunately he needed to get back in Lil' Miss' good graces and to do that he needed information. He and Neo would get that by seeing their target fight.

In close quarters.

With that high possibility of death.

They had no choice.

Roman looked at the door to the Chop Shop, he wasn't sure it was a good idea to follow through the door. He had no idea where the target was currently at inside the building nor the layout so it might be best to enter somewhere else. He looked up at the roof of the building and noticed a large ventilation system.

"Neo," Roman said, looking back at the young girl looking at him with slightly widened eyes. He supposed she was as surprised as him, "you up for gettin' a little dirty?"

Neo tilted her head questionly.

Roman shoved the grate off the wall with a small grunt. It had been bolted into the wall and he had to thank aura for being able to push the damn thing out, he did not like the claustrophobic feelings he's had for the last minute or so. Throughout it he'd heard gunshots and the sounds of fighting muffled through the vents so he felt he was right in choosing to come in another way.

Roman pulled himself out of the vent and carefully dropped to the floor on his hands before awkwardly maneuvering his legs down the wall until they were right behind his hands. He stood from the folded position and looked back at the grate to see Neo looking at him expectdly. Roman grabbed her from under her armpits and pulled her out of the vent. Her clothes and face are now covered in dirt just like his own clothes and face.

"After this, you and I are taking a bath," Roman whispered, Neo only nodded.

Roman took a look at the room they found themselves in, small crates were stacked up and the shelves on the wall were filled with tools and car parts. They were in a storage room most likely-

The muffled sound of protesting metal reached their ears. Roman grimaced at the noise, noting it sounded like something was being torn off and was resisting it vehemently. Though it seemed the metal was losing in this circumstance as soon after the noise gave way to a thud and everything went quiet.

Roman and Neo waited for a while, the silence continuing on with nothing interrupting it. Soon Roman pushed open the door and slipped out with Neo right behind him. They moved down the hall and finally came across a body. Roman didn't waste his time covering Neo's eyes as both of them had already seen corpses before.

The only wound on it was a chunk of their throat missing. It seemed clinical in a sense, the one spot where if hit without aura is a usual guarantee of death. That worried Roman, if this guy wasn't even using wasted movement like huntsmen did to look good then they'd have no chance of escape if they were caught.

They pushed on and found another corpse, and another and another. They followed the macabre trail into what looked to be the main garage with two empty vehicle elevators and other tools used in fixing cars. The thing that caught Roman's eye though was the shipping container in the corner with its doors having been pried open.

At least he knew what that tearing metal sound had been from.

Moving to the container and looking inside Roman and Neo were looking at a staircase leading down beneath the Chop Shop. Being this close the two could make out some noises coming from the bottom, it was muffled but they could still hear it.

Roman stared down the stairway, knowing that going down there was a very risky prospect. Unlike up in the Chop Shop this might have been the only way out of the underground complex and if they were cornered in any way it was over. For both of them.

He looked at Neo, who was looking nervously at the stairs. Roman couldn't blame her; he was feeling pretty nervous about this too. He reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze, trying to help ease her nerves while quelling his own. With his other hand, he pulled his revolver from its holster, cocking the hammer back, "It's gonna be fine, Neo. We've been through worse than this." Roman says, looking at Neo.

Neo looked at the stairs and then back to Roman, steeling herself she nodded. Roman nodded back and both took the first step down hand in hand. As they went on the noises became louder and more easily identifiable. A yell, screeching metal, the sound of something cutting through flesh, a gunshot.

It all painted a rather grisly picture in Roman's mind but he kept it and mentally filed it away in what he could tell Lil' Miss.

Finally, they reached the bottom and the dark hall was only illuminated by the flashing light above them, having been hit by something most likely. Sounds of a fight, a massacre, came from further down the corridor led by a trail of death.

Roman made note of the red banners lining the hall, most of them torn but a few symbols were visible, the most eye-catching being the symbol of an eye in the middle of a compass. The symbol didn't mean anything to Roman but it obviously did to the smugglers who bore it on their wall. What did it mean?

Before Roman could think to make sense of it a body crashed into a wall ahead of them, startling the two just as a sword thrown from the hall pierced the man's head killing him instantly. The two barely got a look at the sword before it faded into blue motes that soon disappeared as well.

They were close to their target, very close. Roman looked back at Neo, her own eyes locking with Roman's, a silent conversation passing between the two. Neo nodded and suddenly her eyes went white, signaling her semblance had been activated. When Neo activated her semblance there was no actual tell, so when Roman needed to know it was active she used it to make her eyes look white as a sign to him.

Now they should be blending into the environment. If someone were to look at them they'd see no one was where they were standing but a bloody corridor with no souls left. Roman was confident in believing that no one could see through the illusion.

Roman moved to the corner, leading down into the other hallway, the sounds of fighting had all but stopped now only bootfalls heading away from them. He looked around the corner and saw the back of their target looking at a heavy-duty air-tight door with no valve in sight. Roman assumed it was on the other side.

The target was looking at the door as if studying it for a moment and then placed his hand on the door. A few seconds passed and suddenly the door was alight with teal circuit-looking marks and then they flashed red. The door blew in violently and the target jerked his hand back and reached inside his coat pulling out the pistol and just as suddenly he vanished.

Roman just kinda stared for a moment. The realization set in how fast the target must have moved for it to be like he just vanished. Only some of the toughest huntsmen and huntresses have been known to do that. Just like that the tick mark for threat to his and Neo's lives just went up a couple of notches.

Roman glanced at Neo, and his resolve hardened. He moved forward toward the doorway, sounds of gunshots and tearing flesh nipping at his ears and Neo's. They had to move forward though. They already had some information, an idea as to what his semblance was, a general fighting style, and even what kind of person the Black Swordsman was.

They didn't need more, right? Lil' Miss would be satisfied with this much right?

Roman wasn't so sure. He wasn't willing to risk Neo's safety on that possibility. He at least needed the target's face. Features, things that could be tracked down easily enough. The target had a hood up though and all he could hope was that it would fall down somehow.

Finally, the two moved through the doorway and the architecture was the first thing that caught Roman's eye. Stone pillars held up the ceiling, with stone arches moving to the floors which were polished but still stone. It was all lit by torchlight and long candles that he admittedly didn't know the name of. The rug, a vermillion red, mixed with the crimson spilled from the bodies that fell onto it. The pews sat on either side of the carpet.

This was a church. A gods damned church under what he thought was a smuggling operation.

He's broken from his thoughts at the sound of another body hitting the floor. Roman and Neo turned to stare at the front of the church where their target stood above the final victim of this massacre and a glowing purple crystal.

In his hand, the white blood-soaked sword disappears but another takes its place. A jagged dagger with a ceremonial look that seemed like it should be housed in some art collection. The target took the dagger and raised it high before bringing it down on the stone.

BOOM!

Roman's world went white.

His vision gone, his ears ringing; he stumbled backward and hit a solid wall. Roman closed his eyes tightly, his eyes stinging. The ringing slowly subsided and the sound of something clattering close to him made him jump and a moment after his vision swirled back into view.

Neo was in front of him rubbing her eyes, a lamp thing had fallen over. The thing that made the noise most likely. Roman's head snapped over to where the target was-

Golden eyes stared at him from behind a scorched pillar. The target was looking directly at them, his skin tan, his hair snow white. He took a step from the pillar and slowly pulled out his pistol again.

Roman didn't even think. He dropped his revolver, grabbed Neo's hand, and ran from the room. Past the bodies, past the blood and soulless gazes. Up the steps, they'd come down slowly, all pretense of taking this slow gone at being discovered.

He had to get Neo away from this man.

Roman and Neo made it to the main garage, he let her hand go knowing she'd follow as he barreled toward the garage door. He rammed into it with his aura up, shoulder first, and broke through it stumbling to the ground and his shoulder sore. A smaller hand grabbed his own and helped pull him up, Neo now ran ahead of him pulling him along as they sped toward the safety of the crowd.

Roman risked a glance back hoping they'd outsped their terror.

The target stood behind them, watching as they ran away from him. He was standing in the middle of the road across from the hole Roman had made out of the garage. His hood was back up but he could feel those golden eyes burrowing into him.

Roman continued looking even as they finally entered the crowd, the man not moving as people began to block Roman's sight. Eventually, the man disappeared from Roman's sight but that didn't make him feel safe.

He kept an eye out though, looking at the rooftops for a silhouette, glancing back at the corners for a hint of that red scarf. Roman didn't see any of that though. The two siblings continued running all the way back to the Aeiger.

-Faunus Quarter-

Roman and Neo panted hard as they stood directly outside the Aeiger. They hadn't paced themselves in their mad dash to the relative safety of the Aeiger and the adrenaline that fueled their steps began to wear off. Aura helped with stamina but running up the steps to the Faunus Quarter and constantly taking back alleys wore on the two.

"You okay, Neo?" Roman breathed out, Neo responded with a thumbs up with her other hand holding her knee and silently panting. The two stood for a moment longer, catching their breath before shaking off the dirt left on them from their vent crawling. They'd rather look somewhat presentable to Miss Malachite.

Finally, the two made their way into the establishment. The first thing Roman noticed was the few out-of-place guards not wearing the Spider colors. Black suits with the only different color were the yellow ties. The second was the tall woman in front of Lil' Miss' table. She had blonde hair and was wearing a lemon-yellow suit. As they got closer the woman turned around and her piercing blue eyes went over his form and then went to Neo.

The gaze didn't leave Neo after it was locked on.

Roman moved to stand between the woman and Neo, really not liking the way she was looking at Neo.

"Ah, Roman," Lil' Miss greeted, "I assume you have some kind of information about our elusive swordsman?"

Roman hesitantly looked away from the woman and looked at Lil' Miss, "You could say that," Roman admitted.

Then he went on to explain everything that occurred. The murders that their target committed and how they had broken someone's aura with a single shot from their gun, the blades that appeared in their hands, and the strange church underneath the Chop Shop. Finally, he gave a full description of the target, the tanned skin, the snow-white hair, and the golden eyes that Roman could still vividly remember.

Lil' Miss had looked interested throughout the whole story. He'd even noticed the woman who had been looking at Neo paid attention to his retelling as well. At the end, Lil' Miss took a long drag from her cigarette and blew the smoke up into the air.

"My, my, that is a lot of information you've given me, Roman," Lil' Miss began, "an actual description of him is something we certainly needed. Even the fact he's capable of massacring people whose only crime was smuggling cargo in and out of Mistral. The semblance is simply a bonus."

"Then, that's enough right?" Roman questioned.

"Hmm, I believe it is."

Roman sagged in relief, his nerves fading for but a moment.

Then Malachite snapped her fingers.

"Argh!" Roman felt the electricity course through his back. He was shoved down and soon felt a weight keeping him on the floor. His head had been forced down on his left so he had a view of Neo getting picked up by one of those suited men.

"Pleasure doing business Miss Malachite," the yellow woman says, walking over to the struggling Neo.

"You as well, Miss Lemon," Lil' Miss says.

Roman's heart was pounding in his ears, "We had a deal!" he shouted out.

Lil' Miss chuckles, "Yes, Roman, we did but two million lien makes even the best deals null and void."

"And it was a well-spent two million," Lemon says, now standing in front of the guard holding the still struggling Neo who was attempting to kick Lemon, "I'd been looking for someone with an illusionary semblance. You, dear, have been blessed with what I seek."

Lemon caressed Neo's cheek but Neo twisted her face away from her. Her heterochromatic eyes definitely stared at Lemon's blue ones. Lemon smirked, "Yes, you would be rowdy, wouldn't you? I suppose it's the job of the parental figure to deal with such problems."

Lemon then took out a necklace from her coat, the pendant hanging from the silver material was a yellow crystal. More specifically a lightning dust crystal. Roman immediately struggled harder but the man holding him down didn't even budge.

"Don't you dare!" he howled as Lemon put the necklace on Neo. Neo froze up when it was finally set, she knew what it was as well.

"Oh, so you know what this is?" Lemon asked, coyly reaching into her coat again, "then you know what it does to little girls who do not behave."

In one moment Lemon had taken out a small remote with only a single button on it. That button made both Roman and Neo look on in horror, Roman seemingly more so. Lemon then pressed down on the button.

BBBBZZZZZZZTTTT

A soundless scream ripped open Neo's mouth as sparks arced across her body.

"NEO!" Roman screams, looking at Lemon's small smirk, "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

"You won't get the chance dear," Malachite says, "I do hope she's to your liking, Lemon."

"Again, anything can be fixed with simple discipline," she looked at Neo, having lost consciousness due to the pain, "She'll be a good loyal pup after a little breaking in."

A small head tilt from Lemon and the man holding Neo hefted her over his shoulder. Roman could only watch as the thug carried his sister in all but blood away. He struggled but to no avail, Neo was soon carried out of the Aieger with Lemon following. She stopped for a moment though and winked back at him before finally exiting.

Roman was then pulled up to his knees, his arms being bound from behind. Malachite walked in front of him, "You know it ain't all bad, Roman. She'll live in utter luxury with Miss Lemon."

"As as slave," Roman gritted out, his eyes getting misty at the unshed tears.

"I suppose," she agrees, then looks toward the person holding him, "Take him to the basement I'll deal with him soon."

Roman was dragged back roughly by the bindings, his arms moved up at an uncomfortable angle but he wasn't focused on that.

Please...

He stared at the entrance to the Aeiger, hoping.

Please…

He was fully aware that nothing was going to happen. He would die, and Neo would be serving a life worse than death.

Please…

He still begged. He called to anything, everything to save his sister.

Please…

Bang!

"Hey! Who the hell are-agh!" A yell erupted from the front of the bar.

Something had answered him.

-Lil' Miss Malachite-

Malachite turned abruptly, looking in the direction the scream came from. A man was currently walking toward her, one of her boys on the ground behind him with their arm twisted the wrong way. The man was wearing a leather black coat with sleek black and silver armor beneath that seemingly went to his metal-clad boots, a red scarf hung from his neck as well.

She recognized that description.

"So the Black Swordsman graces us with his presence," she says, taking another drag from her cigarette. Roman must have been followed. Another failure on his part and another punishment before she killed him.

"Malachite," the Black Swordsman spoke. His voice was deep and smooth with small hints of a rasp.

"So you know of me? Figures, you are good at evading my spies after all."

"I didn't evade them," he reached into his pocket and produced a dagger. One she recognized instantly, "I just didn't let them come back."

Malachite frowned. This wouldn't do, she'd assumed it was that terrorist group that did her scouts in but now to know it was instead the Swordsman's doing she couldn't let that go unpunished.

"You do know you've made an enemy of the Spiders correct?"

"Fully," not a hint of fear or trepidation. It's almost as if he didn't care. That hit Malachite's pride.

"Then comin' into the Spiders Den was a mistake."

"No it was to make a point, stop following me or you'll find more of your scouts not returning."

Malachite laughed, she walked toward her table without fear and sat down, "You think I'll just let you leave after admitting to having killed some of my boys? No, it doesn't work like that."

She snapped her fingers and every single Spider in the building turned to the Black Swordsman. They all produced a weapon of some kind while the Swordsman simply looked around him, "You will pay for the blood you've spilled with every last drop of yours."

Some of the Spiders strode forward intent on following her command. She smirked as they got closer and the Swordsman simply watched, perhaps all that talk about his prowess was just talk-

"Trace on."

Shink!

"Ah!"

Shink!

"What the hell!"

Shink!

"I can't move!"

It was a similar scene across the room. Strange blades had appeared around the swordsman out of blue dust and soon found themselves impaled directly behind the Spiders. After that, none could move.

Malachite stared in shock as the man walked forward unopposed. They finally stopped in front of her table and looked down at her with cold golden eyes, an oppressing sense pushing down on her.

"You've been given a very rare thing from me, Malachite," he spoke, "If you come after me or send someone after me. I promise to come back and kill you. The only reason I'm not doing so now is it would be inconvenient down the line."

"I-if you thin-" Lil' Miss tried to say.

SHNK!

Faster than she could react a black shortsword was embedded into the table at an angle. She looked down to see the blade barely an inch away from her stomach, "Do you understand?"

Malachite could only nod.

"Good, then I expect you to listen or I'll be back for you and your organization." He turned around and walked back out the same way he came. After he disappeared from the Aeiger the swords pinning her boys down soon disappeared and they could all move again.

Malachite simply sat in fear, which soon turned to anger at this humiliation. Who the hell did that man think he was!? She was Lil' Miss Malachite, a few calls from her could have several of the Mistral Council dead in a week after some rather terrible secrets came to light!

She would not be slighted like this.

"Todd," she says coldly, Todd turns and looks at her, "I want you to set up a bounty for the Black Swordsman's head."

"Y-yes ma'am, how much?"

"Three million."

"A-alright, it'll take a few days to-"

"Then get to it!" She yelled, her temper finally getting the best of her. Todd nodded and moved to go and scrounge up the money for the bounty.

Malachite breathed deeply, she needed to calm down. She had other business to attend to after all.

"Well, now that that's over," she said, smirking, "why don't you and me take a…"

Malachite turned around to see a missing piece. A missing Torchwick and after a glance to her right a missing cane as well. Her head snapped toward the man who was holding Roman only to find him still pinned with a blade that had only now disappeared.

Malachite screamed in rage.

-Roman Torchwick-

Roman had taken the chance as it was. The man holding him was frozen and hadn't tried stopping him as he dislocated his thumb to get out of his restraints. He'd grabbed Melodic Cudgel on his way out just as the target-Black Swordsman left and Roman bolted out the side door.

After that, he immediately ran to the front of the Aeiger and looked for the Swordsman. He knew he had no chance of getting to Neo by himself and even though the man terrified him he needed help. He had to try, plus Roman had a feeling the man had purposely helped him out freezing his captor in place, somehow.

A small flutter of black and red and Roman sped off to catch it. Roman swerved through the small crowd, keeping the man in sight even as he was gliding through the crowd. Soon the Swordsman turned to an alley and Roman followed. Only to be grabbed by the throat and shoved against the wall, a sharp point on his throat.

"Seems I'll have to keep that promise early." The Swordsman said, his white sword being the sharp object against Roman's throat.

"W-wait I'm not with her!" Roman hastily croaked out

"You were inside."

"As a captive!"

"You were following me earlier."

"W-well yeah but that was because I had no choice!" Roman gulped audibly, "Please, you have to hear me out."

"Why?"

"Because it was your fault they took her!" Roman yelled, emotion getting the better of him.

"Who?"

"N-neo, the girl that was with me." The Swordsman let go of Roman immediately and began walking further into the alley.

"Not my problem."

"W-what!? Of course, it's your problem you caused this!" Roman didn't believe that, he just needed the man to help him and guilt-tripping was his only hope.

"Don't care."

"Please! You have to help!"

The Swordsman didn't respond simply walking deeper into the dark.

"You have to save my sister! Please! She's all I have, and I'm all she has-hrk-please," Roman collapsed to his knees his unshed tears finally falling to the cobblestone, "She was taken and is going to be used for her semblance, I don't know what to d-do -a-and I can't lose her."

Silence permeates the alley and for a moment Roman thinks the man left anyway. He turns his head up as footsteps approach him, his green eyes lock with the man's own golden ones.

"Where?"

"W-what?"

"Where did they take her?"

Roman didn't know what to say for a moment the hope in his chest robbing him of his words.

The abrupt ending is purposeful so please don't point it out. Anyway, I hoped to bring out some elements of Mistral in this chapter, and the next few one of those being the Spiders. The Spiders are rather undeveloped in the show as all we really know is that they specialize in information and they're a larger organization. Lil Miss isn't even given much character so I felt giving her a more ruthless feel was the go-to, also in canon it's said she'd had her husband killed so she is plenty ruthless already just putting it on display.

Another thing is Roman and Neo's presence in the story. They'll be important to progress the plot as well as throw a bit of a curveball later down the line. Neo also got the short end of the stick here because Roman needed a reason to actually get Emiya to help because let's be honest this version probably wouldn't have. For nearly a year Shirou has been on a one-track goal and has gained tunnel vision because of this, this'll be addressed next chapter.

The next thing is Lemon who is simply another character from The Grimm Campaign. She's a crime boss and I don't know how she's personified so I gave her my own with the plot I put down. I'm sure a lot of you already despise her for what she did to Neo. She'll be a part of the next chapter as well so you don't gotta worry 'bout that.

The final thing is something touched on in the beginning. Shirou did do a lot of damage to the settlements with the cult but most of them were left, relatively, standing and not razed to the ground. This is Ozpin's group handling cleanup so the cult nor the secret wars somehow get out. Shirou is already onto this just not who has done this.

Anyway I hope you all enjoy this and have a good night/day.

EDIT: Alright, i'm fully aware of the fact that Shirou leaving Malachite alive feels out of character but that's only because we weren't looking through his POV. Shirou had a reason to leave her alive, one that will be revealed next chapter and while it may not be satisfying there is a reason and I feel it'll make sense once we get to it.